More pressure. More pressure. No, less pressure. Back off, dammit!
There are a number of factors that make a massage good or bad. Did the therapist pay attention to me? Were they 'there' during the session? Were the movements smooth? Was the pressure correct?
Massage is a form of healing that relies on touch. If the touch is too heavy, it is bad. If it is too light, it is like not being worked at all. A therapist's touch has to be caring, healing, appropriate with the proper intent, and it has to be 'just right'. And it is the latter that usually makes or breaks the massage.
Depending on what type of massage is needed (and that has to be agreed upon between the client and therapist), massage can be pleasant or painful. Sometimes, the problems someone has can only be worked out by deep massage which could utilize trigger points in very tight muscles. Sometimes, what someone needs is fascial work (work on the connective tissues) which can hurt at times and is not what people think of when they think massage. The plus side on these styles is that a person will generally feel much better afterwards, and that feeling will increase over the next couple of days. The effect can be more permanent as well.
But for most 'normal' style of massage, someone is looking to relax and loosen up muscles. The right type of pressure here is important. Pressure that is too light makes one feel like they were not worked on at all. Too heavy makes one feel 'beat up'.
A survey a few years back said that the most requested style of massage in the state of Florida is Deep Tissue. And most massage places charge more for that. But most people don't realize what deep tissue truly is. Deep Tissue can be killer deep. It employs lots of pressure, and most people don't want that. But people request it because they have had massage previously where the therapist used too little pressure (what we in the industry call 'Fluff and Buff'). These people walk away thinking that regular massage is too light so they must need Deep Tissue work.
In truth, most people just want to feel their massage, and most (intuitive) therapists should be able to gauge the pressure that is appropriate. However, if you are receiving a massage and the pressure is not right, feel free to tell the therapist what they should do. If they do not listen to you, that is another issue. But, they should change to give you what you need. They key is that you need to speak up and let them know.
So, what pressure is right for you?